INTEGRITY

GAY EPISCOPAL FORUM

c Integrity 1976   ISSN: 0095-2184

Vol. 2  No. 4  February 1976

INTEGRITY:  GAY EPISCOPAL FORUM is the official newsletter of Integrity, Inc., a nonprofit religious, charitable, educational, and literary organization, with offices at 701 Orange Street, No. 6, Fort Valley, GA 31030.  Signed articles represent the views of the contributors.  The editors reserve the right to revise all sexist language.  (c) 1976 by Integrity, Inc.  10 issues/$10, including membership.  Add $1 for all subscriptions that require plain envelopes.  Couple rates are $13 for one newsletter.  Copies of earlier numbers, when available, are $2.50.  Volume 1 is out of print.

Editor      Louie Crew, Ph.D.

Contributing Editor     The Rev. Michael G. Koonsman

Contributing Editor     Robert Ragland, M.D.

National President      Jim Wickliff

National Vice President Dan Fee

National Executive Secretary  Bob Diehm

Trustees:   Ernest Clay, Louie Crew, Julie Peterson,

                  The Rev. Richard Younge

Consultants:      The Rev. Malcolm Boyd, The Rev. Robert W. Cromey, The Rev. Norman Pittenger

THANKSGIVING for GAYNESS

God, thank you for the gift of Gayness, a way of reaching out and loving, a way of enjoying your gifts of sexuality and pleasure, a way of knowing aloneness, a way of knowing union.  Thank you for the awareness it gives me, for the clarity of pain, for the rapture of joy.  All good gifts come from you, Oh God.  May I use the gift of Gayness to celebrate you, life, your love, your tender whimsy.  AMEN (Fr. Ron Wesner)

IN THE NATIONAL CHURCH

Atlanta.  The Joint Commission on the Church in Human Affairs of the Episcopal Church met here at the Air Host Inn, 28-30 January, to address its assignment from the House of Bishops to keep open the doors of communication with Gays in the Church.

Guest consultants of the 12-member Commission were The Very Rev. Dr. C. R. Jones, Canon in Hartford and a member of the House of Bishops' Task Force on Homophiles and the Ministry; The Rev. Robert Herrick, coordinator of religious Gay caucus information for the National Gay Task Force; Jim Wickliff, INTEGRITY president; and Dr. Louie Crew. FORUM editor.

While no specific action was taken at this meeting, the Commission did decide to reconvene in Dallas in March, with a view to possibly drafting a resolution to accompany its report to the General Convention.  Resolutions must be filed by April 1st to appear in the official Minneapolis program.  Fr. Herrick spoke at length about the relative progress in all religious groups in the U.S.A.  Dr. Jones specifically clarified the history of our Church in this regard, most particularly through the Task Force on which he has served.  Mr. Wickliff discussed the history, activity and goals of INTEGRITY.  Dr. Crew spoke personally, urging the Commission not to forget the personalities of the millions too long denied unconditional access to the Gospel itself.

The consultants concurred in feeling that the Commissioners are a fair sampling of the full range of our Church, that they are warm and intelligent people.  We await their report with much interest and prayerful concern.

OUR OWN!

NEW YORK (AP) __ The Episcopal bishop of New York says many clergymen in his church have been homosexuals and the ordination of an avowed lesbian as a deacon in the church is a sign of  healthy change.

The Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Jr. commenting Tuesday on the ordination last week of Ellen Barrett said, "Historically many of the finest clergy in our church have had this personality structure, but only recently has the social climate made it possible to be open about it."

He noted that Deacon Barrett has "spoken openly about her homosexuality" and "I believe that this openness is a healthy development in the culture of our church."  He said he believed the deacon's openness showed "courage and compassion in her identification with the gay community" and was "a credit to her."

The bishop observed that "homosexuality is a condition which one does not choose; it is not a question of morality." 

Deacon Barrett has been studying at the General Theological Seminary in New York City.  She is a contributing editor to "Integrity:  Gay Episcopal Forum," the newsletter of a national organization of homosexual Episcopalians.

Quoted from THE SOUTH MIDDLESEX DAILY NEWS Framingham, MA,

Dec. 24, 1975, with permission from The Rev. Ellen Barrett.

OUR NEXT CONVENTION

San Francisco.  INTEGRITY/SF has agreed to host our second annual convention on 6-8 August.

Bishop C. K. Myers has agreed to be the main celebrant at the principal INTEGRITY Mass, to be held at St. Mark's Cathedral.

The location of our other sessions has yet to be determined and will be announced in later FORUMs.  Queries should be sent directly to the INTEGRITY Convention Committee, c/o The Rev. Richard Younge, P. 0. Box 6444, San Jose, CA 95150.

TOWARDS GENERAL CONVENTION

Ambler, PA.  The Rev. Ron Wesner, co-convenor of the Philadelphia INTEGRITY chapter, has accepted our president's appointment of him as chairperson of INTEGRITY's committee for General Convention.  (See our president's page at end of issue.)  Fr. Wesner urgently requests input from all members about the plans for this important occasion, RFD 1, Brushtown Rd., Ambler, PA 19002.

This committee will make all necessary earlier arrangements for our booth, already reserved, and will report to our Convention in San Francisco for final strategies.

METHODIST SEX STUDY

Washington, DC.  Writing in ENGAGE/Social Action, a United Methodist publication, Dick Johnson reported that it is likely the spring Conference of the United Methodist Church will vote one-third of a million dollars to fund a study commission on human sexuality.  Mr. Johnson personally opposes the study, arguing that it would change no attitudes but that "its sole purpose would be to keep the controversy alive and simmering at the highest levels of the Church."

AROUND OUR DIOCESES .......

ATLANTA

By Alice Murray

Constitution Religion Writer

The Episcopal bishop of Atlanta called for the decriminalization of homosexuality and requested a diocesan study of marriage and sexuality Wednesday in his annual address to the Diocese of Atlanta.

The Rt. Rev. Bennett J. Sims said that while he does not accept homosexuality as a healthy expression of humanity, he is "unready to slam the door of tradition on these people.

"In my encounters and confrontations with gay persons in the past year, I have learned to regard them as suffering a cruel discrimination as fellow human beings," Bishops Sims said.

In an address to almost 500 delegates from across north Georgia, Bishop Sims called for a careful study of marriage and sexuality to be made during the next year, with a report to be brought to the 1977 diocesan council.

"Marriage and human sexuality are traditional Christian moral concerns," he said, calling marriage "to one person, for as long as life shall last" the norm for which the human spirit is made and in which it finds its fulfillment.

      THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, Thurs., Jan. 19, 1976

CHICAGO

Evanston, IL.  Dr. Paul Elmen, professor of moral theology here at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, has named INTEGRITY member The Rev. Grant Gallup convenor of a subcommittee on human sexuality of Bishop Montgomery's Advisory Commission on Human Concerns.  The seven committee members will have their first meeting on 19th February.

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia.  On Feb. 5th The Rt. Rev. J. Brooke Mosley, Assistant Bishop of Pennsylvania, visited the local chapter of INTEGRITY.  Diocesan Bishop Lyman Ogilby has already expressed his intention to pay a similar friendly and informal visit in the near future.

TEXAS

Houston.  The love and charity with which Christian sisters and brothers hold Gay Christians is most poignantly clarified by the following item from THE TEXAS CHURCHMAN, Vol. 79, no. 1 (January 1976):

A resolution signed by the vestry, delegates, and rector of Ascension Church, Houston, will be presented to the 127th diocesan council.

It asks the council to memorialize General Convention "to forbid ordination of avowed homosexuals to the office of deacon, priest and bishop of the Episcopal Church."  The resolution was written as a result of the recent ordinations of Ellen Barrett to the diaconate by the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, bishop of New York.

That action was not in violation of any existing church law or canon, explained the Rev. Sid Gervais, rector of Ascension, "Our feeling was that there should be such a law, not to be a punitive action against homosexuals but to preclude the expansion of homosexuality within the ordained ministry.

"Actually," he observed, "our resolution is motivated to preserve the heterosexuality of the ordained ministry.

"We take quite seriously the Presiding Bishop's admonition to understand and minister to the homosexual community," he added.   "We feel that must be done, but ministering to them is one thing and ordaining them to the ministry is another.

In a telephone interview before the Council meeting Fr. Gervais explained to FORUM editor Dr. Crew that he knows personally of only two Gay priests.  He also said that to the best of his knowledge no study in the diocese had been made of Gay sexuality or of human sexuality generally.  He was unfamiliar with the details of the Michigan study.

The Rt. Rev. James Richardson, Bishop of Texas, explained, in a separate telephone call, that persons in his diocese like to behave independently and that he had nothing to do with the resolution.

Overwhelming approval from the full Council has bound the resolution over to General Convention in Minneapolis.

WASHINGTON

Georgetown, DC.  The Rev. John L. Abraham has informed FORUM that some of his colleagues were hoping to pass a resolution at the diocesan convention in late January or February, affirming and advocating the rights of Gays in the Church.

HONOR ROLL

Several bishops of the Episcopal Church signed the supportive "We Too" statement for Gay Roman Catholics, prepared by Gay brother Brian McNaught and submitted in November to all Roman Catholic bishops [See FORUM, (September-October 1975), p. 2]:

      The Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Bishop of New York

      The Rt. Rev. Frederick Wolf, Bishop of Maine

      The Rt. Rev. Henry Marmion, Bishop of SW Virginia

      The Rt. Rev. John Krumm, Bishop of Southern Ohio

      The Rt. Rev. George E. Rath, Bishop of Newark

      The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Bishop of W. Mich.

      The Rt. Rev. Coleman McGehee, Bishop of Michigan

      The Rt. Rev. Richard Trelease, Bishop of Rio Grande

      The Rt. Rev. Lyman Ogilby, Bishop of Pennsylvania

      The Rt. Rev. J. Brooke Mosley, Assistant Bp. of PA

      The Rt. Rev. Robert Spears, Bishop of Rochester

PRIEST ATTACKS GAY PARISHIONER

Atlanta.  At the diocesan council meeting here (see page 1) the Rev. Cecil Cowan, priest and confessor to INTEGRITY founder Louie Crew, openly and viciously attacked Dr. Crew and his lover Ernest Clay, with over five minutes of engaging in personalities.  The occasion was a resolution to establish a study of Human Sexuality as recommended by Bishop Sims.  Fr. Cowan rose to the floor to complain that he has "the leader of the pack" in his congregation, and claimed that the two make a mockery of the Christian home.

Although an INTEGRITY convenor, Dr. Ara Dostourian, was present, no one was allowed to speak from a Gay point of view, or to explain that no two persons could be made to represent an organization of more than 500 persons.

Fr. Cowan's attack has rallied still more persons in small Fort Valley to perpetuate their steady round of hate calls in harassment of the couple.

Dr. Dostourian was named a member of the diocesan study committee.

Milwaukee.  Miriam Ben Shalom, an honor student at University of Wisconsin and a drill sergeant in the 84th division of the Army Reserves, is being considered for a military discharge because of her homosexuality.  Sgt. Shalom has decided to fight these proceedings.

Interested persons should contact Will Orris, Press Secretary for the Miriam Ben Shalom Foundation for Minority Rights, Inc., P.O. Box 12030, Milwaukee 53212.

PRESBYTERIANS

Chicago.  The Presbytery of Chicago at its November meeting voted to rescind its action of September [see FORUM, Vol. 2, no. 1, p. 1 (Nov. 75)], at which time it granted The Rev. David Sindt permission to labor within its bounds.

The surface issue at the rescinding was whether Mr. Sindt's ministry was specific enough to provide accountability.  During the discussion one member of the Presbytery stated that he was afraid that PGC and David represented a homosexual ministry to the Christian Church rather than a Christian ministry to homosexuals.  Co-coordinator of Presbyterian Gay Caucus, Lincoln Trails, commented: "Evidently the thought that the Church could in any way learn anything from or be ministered to by Gay women and men was an abhorrent thought to the gentlemen."

LESBIAN MOTHER SUIT

Mary Jo Risher, a lesbian mother, has lost custody f her nine-year-old son as a result of a decision passed down by a domestic relations court jury.  Risher's attorney attempted to prohibit the defendant's sexual preference from being made an issue in the case, but the motion was denied by Judge Owen Chrisman.

Risher has had custody of her two sons, Jimmy, 17, and Richard, 9, since 1971 when she and her husband were divorced.  Last summer Jimmy left his mother's home to live with his father who subsequently filed suit to gain custody of Richard on the grounds that the boys' mother was unfit because of her homosexuality.

During the custody trial Mary Jo Risher testified in the presence of a jury of ten men and two women that her love for Ann Foreman, with whom she had been living for two years, does not interfere with her ability to raise Richard.  Attorney Aglaia Mauzy told the jury that Risher was a "warm, loving mother" who provided a "good, clean environment."

The case is being appealed.  For more information contact:  The Mary Jo Risher Fund, c/o Dallas County NOW, PO Box 12431, Dallas, TX 45225

                              --Majority Report

NEW GAY MISSION

Atlanta.  Under the patronage of the Orthodox-Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and Atlanta, a new Gay-oriented Christian Mission has been chartered.

The new parish adheres to the liturgical traditions and forms of Western catholicism.  Initially it will be a mission of Holy Cross Orthodox-Catholic Church of Commerce, GA, and will be under the personal direction of Archbishop George Hyde, who established an open ministry to and for Gay Christians in Atlanta as early as 1946.

More information can be obtained from Fr. Mark Philips, P.O. Box 1273, Anderson, SC 29622.

The new Mission is not affiliated with the Episcopal Church or with the Roman Catholic Church.

RUNNING WITH US

Ann Arbor.  The Rev. Malcolm Boyd has kindly agreed to be listed with Dr. Norman Pittenger and The Rev. Robert Cromey as consultants of INTEGRITY.

We welcome Fr. Boyd to this important role and look forward to his input in our organization.

GAY HOME BLESSED

San Francisco.  On Sunday 8th Feb., several Episcopal priests performed the Anglican ritual for blessing a new home at a housewarming for Episcopalian John Preston,      3729 17th Street, SF, CA 94114.

John, recently resigned as editor of the ADVOCATE, was one of the pioneers in organizing Gay Episcopalians, as the leader of the first Episcopal Gay Caucus several years ago.

ENEMIES RALLY

Los Angeles.  CHRISTIAN CAUSE, a fundamentalist organization founded mainly to attack Gay Christians, has increased its fund-raising lately, from 2200 Hollyridge Drive, LA, CA 90068.

SPEAKERS, MEETINGS, &C.

PITTENGER

Our advisor The Rev. Dr. Norman Pittenger will be in the USA for 45 days from late February.  Be sure to check your local sources for exact information of time and place if you live within his itinerary:  NYC (on 24th Feb.), Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Randolph-Macon, a chaplains' conference in Cincinnati, Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati, Christian Seminary in Indianapolis, Nashotah House, Seabury-Western, St. James' Cathedral in Chicago, St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, a clergy conference in Salt Lake City, a lecture at All Saints in Pasadena, a lecture to MCC in Los Angeles, Centre for Process Studies in Claremont, Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, a conference on "Beauty" for Graduate Theological Union of the Bay Area, a sermon at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco sermon and meetings at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, lectures at Perkins in Dallas and at the Episcopal seminary in Austin....  Just try to catch up with him!

JONES

The Very Rev. Dr. Clinton R. Jones will be a speaker at the Ortho-Psychiatric Association meeting in Atlanta on Friday 5th March.  He will also lecture at Duke University in Durham, NC, on Wednesday, 3rd March.  He will speak to INTEGRITY and DIGNITY in Atlanta on this same tour, and members in these areas should contact their convenors for details.  Canon Jones is the author of HOMOSEXUALITY AND COUNSELING et al., and is a member of the House of Bishops' Task Force on the Homophile and the Ministry.

NGTF:  HEYWARD, HERRICK, ET AL.

NYC.  On Saturday, 6th March, at 7 p.m., at the auditorium of the N.Y.U. School of Medicine the National Gay Task Force will sponsor a "Forum on Gays and the Religious Community."  The moderator will be the Rev. Robert Herrick, NGTF director for religion.

Panelists will include The Rev. Carter Heyward, The Rev. John McNeil, Ms. Arlie Scott, The Rev. Howard Wells, and Mr. Carl Bennett, from the Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Unitarian, MCC, and Jewish communities respectively.

Ken Briggs, Religion Editor of the New York TIMES, will question the panel.  The event is open to the general public.

EVANGELISTS, BLAIR

Washington, DC.  On 22-23 February at the Marshall Room of the Sheraton-Park Hotel here Dr. Ralph Blair (30 East 60th Street, NYC 10022) will conduct an important seminar on "An Evangelical Look at Homosexuality."

The event is simultaneously scheduled though not officially connected with the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals.

GAY BICENTENNIAL AT THE ALAMO

San Antonio.  The American Issues Forum of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration has funded "Gay in San Antonio - A Sense of Belonging?"  The program was prepared by Forward Foundation, Inc., and has active participation by many Gay Episcopalians.  More details can be had from Forward Foundation, P.O. Box 12260, San Antonio, TX 78212.

ILLINOIS STATE

Normal, IL.  The Gay People's Alliance of Illinois State University here will sponsor a Sexuality Convention on the campus on 2-4 April.

The convention will include workshops exploring different areas and aspects of Gay sexuality, social activities including a coffeehouse, dance and erotic film festival, an art exhibition, and noted Gay speakers.

For more information, contact Gay People's Alliance, 225 N. University, #2C, Normal, IL 61761.

COUNSELING

NYC.  The Homosexual Community Counseling Center here has proudly announced a new series of traveling seminars on "Counseling and Homosexuality."  Contact HCCC, 30 E. 60th St., NYC 10022, for more details for your area:

Birmingham, Saturday, 14th February

Jacksonville, FL, Monday, 16th February

NYC, Saturday, 6th March

Boston, Saturday, 20th March

Des Moines, Saturday, 3rd April

Fargo, Monday, 5th April

Milwaukee, Saturday, 10th April

Huntington, W. VA, Saturday, 24th April

Denver, Saturday, 8th May

Seattle, Monday, 10th May.

Dr. Ralph Blair is the person in charge of these events.

DIGNITY & THE VATICAN

Boston.  DIGNITY, the national organization for Gay Roman Catholics, has issued the following statement in reaction to Vatican pronouncements about homosexuals and homosexuality:

  "The most recent statement on sexual ethics from the Vatican continues to reflect a lack of appreciation for the broad range of human sexual expression among those who follow Christ and live in responsible love.

  "DIGNITY ... has been challenging the Catholic Church to a more sensitive pastoral care of the homosexual community, flowing from a more enlightened understanding of contemporary psychological, scriptural, and theological data on homosexuality.

  "The present Vatican document, while urging a 'sensitive pastoral approach to the homosexual,' does little more than repeat the traditional, unenlightened condemnation of homosexual expression, based on the presupposition that human sexuality is God-given and moral only in heterosexual marriage for the purpose of procreation.  Such a narrow understanding of human sexuality has been seriously challenged by a large number of American Catholic theologians who recognize the broader purpose of human sexuality as an expression of unselfish love between two people, as a responsible communication of their love and shared life.

  "To speak of homosexuality as 'intrinsically disordered' is to neglect current biological and psychological data on homosexuality and the life experience of Gay people themselves who find their sexual orientation not a disordered curse but a God-given gift, not a freely chosen rejection of God, but the very context for their living the Gospel of responsible love.

  "DIGNITY continues to maintain that, in the light of recent findings by both Church and scientific scholars and in the light of the Gay person's own experience, constitutional homosexuality is a natural, irreversible variation of sexual behavior, evidenced consistently throughout history and in every species of mammal.  We maintain, further, with many competent theologians and scripture scholars, that it is intrinsically good when it is expressed in an ethically responsible, unselfish, and Christian manner, as all sexuality must be.

  "The Vatican document, in citing Scripture as clearly condemnatory of all homosexual expression, fails to take into account the most recent studies of scripture scholars (for example, D.S. Bailey, John McNeill, S.J.) who find, to the contrary, that the so-called scriptural condemnations are based on serious misinterpretations and mistranslations, cultural limitations, and a simple lack of understanding of the existence and reality of constitutional homosexuality.

  "DIGNITY reaffirms its call to the Church and the U.S. Bishops to appoint a committee of theologians, social scientists, and gay persons to more adequately study the question of homosexuality, its implications for Church and society.  We repeat our call for a sensitive, enlightened pastoral care, based not on continuing misconceptions and myopic repetition of tradition, but on a careful listening to theologians, social scientists, and Gay people themselves, who are already living responsible Christian lives as both Gay and Catholic.

  "DIGNITY trusts that this latest statement from the Vatican will be extremely disappointing to all responsible theologians and pastors...."

NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS!!

By The Rev. Paul M. Washington*

Then Peter began to speak, "In solemn truth I can see now that God is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation the man who reverences him and does what is right is acceptable to him."

On December 21st, when I was invited to be a guest of Chuck Stone on Channel 48, we reminisced for a while on the recent history of the Black struggle in America, and in particular on the part which The Advocate had in hosting two national conventions addressing the issues of this struggle.

As we talked I said to Chuck: "Today we speak casually of the Black Power Movement.  It is now both acceptable and proper to refer to us as Black people, but few will ever realize how devastating it was for those persons 10 or 11 years ago to project the validity of Blackness and affirm it as a right and acceptable identification for us.  In our world there are white, red, yellow, brown people -- and there are Black people.  O.K.?"

Today we read from the Book of Acts a statement made by Peter almost 2000 years ago:  "In solemn truth I now perceive that God is no respecter of persons."

This revelation too, was devastating, traumatic and even dangerous.  Peter was a Jew, faithful, devout and uncompromising in his obedience to Jewish law.  As such there were literally hundreds of do's and don'ts which he and all good Jews were expected to follow obediently.  One of the don'ts was:  Jews are forbidden to enter into any relationships with Gentiles.  That is why Jesus was severely criticized for asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water, why Matthew was practically an untouchable because he collected taxes for the Gentile Roman government, why Jesus incurred the hostility of the mob.  He did not agree that a woman who had committed adultery should be stoned to death in spite of the fact that according to Jewish law she was to be destroyed.  There was no such penalty for men.

Peter had a vision which revealed to him that ethnic heritage nor national origin nor even one's social status was of any particular consequence before God, but only whether or not a person reverences God and does what is right in the sight of God. That which God has cleansed, call thou not unclean.

Having had this vision Peter went to visit a Roman Centurion whose name was Cornelius.  As he entered Cornelius' home, he felt constrained to let those who were present know:  My presence here is not just another visit of one man into another man's home.  As a matter of fact my presence here is a matter of great consequence and even of revolutionary proportions, because it is forbidden for a man who is a Jew to associate with or even visit a man who is of another nation, but God has shown me plainly that no man must be called common or unclean.  That is why I am here. God has shown me that that which he has cleansed must not be called common or unclean.

That is what the Black Power movement said:  No man is common or unclean or inferior.

That is what the Women's movement is saying:  No woman is common or without equal dignity and rights in the presence of God.

As I am writing this sermon, it is Thursday night.  A few hours earlier on this day I was invited to have lunch with two young priests of our Church.  One was told by his bishop:  I am removing you from this Church where you have been serving under my appointment, and I have no other place to send you.  The young priest had openly declared that he is Gay.  The other said:  I had a good parish; I owned a house and a car.  But I have none of these now.  He went on:  When people ask me, what do you do?, I answer, "I am an unemployed Gay priest of the Episcopal Church."

These two persons, priests of our Church, discovered some years ago that they were somewhat different from most other people.  They discovered that they felt more comfortable and natural with persons of their own sex.  They discovered that they were homosexuals.  It was not a conscious desire to be different; it was not a matter of being faced with options so that they opted for homosexuality rather than heterosexuality.  They simply became aware of the fact over a period of time that wherein most people gravitate towards members of the opposite sex, they found themselves attracted to persons of their own sex.  They have the capacity and need to love and to be loved, to serve God and all people and to be served by them.  Except:  homosexuals are not likely to fall in love with a person of the opposite sex.  Homosexuals do fall in love with persons of their own sex, and there are millions of people with this orientation who find happiness and fulfillment in each other.

But, in another sense such persons suffer deeply and are denied fullness of life because some of us reject, denounce and ostracize them because they are different.

It is sinful enough when we are not able to perceive that God is not a respecter of persons, but is concerned only about those who reverence him and who do what is right in his sight.  But our sin is compounded as we look at the destructive effects of our rejection.  Our refusal to accept, to affirm, and to accord dignity to one another has resulted across the ages in causing the rejected to reject themselves, to cause the hated to hate themselves, to cause the despised to despise themselves, and to cause the different to feel that they are queer.

But it does not end there.  In physics we learned that matter is indestructible.  We fail to realize, however, that not only is matter indestructible, but that personality if not allowed to express itself naturally, normally, in accordance with the will of God, will not just disintegrate or evaporate, but will find a means of expression.  Unfortunately, however, the next time around it becomes an expression of desperation -- or perhaps not desperation, but of the tree that cracks concrete sidewalks and pushes houses down when its natural development is obstructed.  It becomes Blacks who burned down cities, women who seek ordination irregularly, or Israelites who bring down the economic structure of an Egypt by walking away from slavery.

There are homosexuals in our world (not of their own choosing but of God's design), in the Episcopal Church, and in our church.  I perceive that the time has come for our society, and more particularly our Church, to recognize that we must now proclaim that ancient word:  "Of a truth, I see now that God is not a respecter of persons, but that in every nation the one who reverences God and does what is right in God's sight is acceptable to God."

I say that the time has come, not because I stand at a time keeper or a watchman to tell you the hour, but because I hear Gay people, homosexuals saying:  we now know of a truth that we are creations of God and thus acceptable in God's sight.  We have no shame because we have no guilt.  Our existence is not criminal.  God has called us to express his infinite love in yet another dimension and we must.  He is calling all of us to realize that in his house there are many mansions and that the one we happen to live in is not the only one nor even the better one.

The struggle of the Gay to be able to love, accept and affirm himself or herself has been a long, delicate, painful one.  I think they are tasting that liberty wherein Christ has made them free.

The larger question for us today is, have we found that same freedom?

"I see now of a truth that God is not a respecter of persons, but that in every nation the man who reverences him and does what is right is acceptable to him."  The key to note is that this is not grace without a condition, but with an unmistakable condition, to all those who reverence him and who do what is right within his sight.

--------

*Fr. Washington is rector of the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia where he preached this sermon on January 11, 1976, the First Sunday after the Epiphany.  Fr. Washington has long led courageously in the Black Movement, and he has been a supporter of the Women's Movement.

FORUM

Just a note to express my thankfulness for INTEGRITY.  How I have been sustained and uplifted by the FORUM and by the fellowship within INTEGRITY!  Just knowing that there is such an organization helps to quell the loneliness that one is prone to feel.

My special thanks also for the publication of Bishop McGehee's address [FORUM, January 76].

                              --Paul

In response to your letter of 22nd January, I am sending you a  copy of an issue of THE SOUTHWESTERN EPISCOPALIAN which contains a statement from me, championing the civil rights of homophiles ....  Please feel free to use my remarks as you see fit.

                              --The Rt. Rev. William H. Marmion

                        Bishop of Southwestern Virginia

[Editor's note:  we reprint herewith the statement to which Bp. Marmion refers, dated December 1971.  The occasion was his defense of the vestry of St. James' Church in Roanoke, when they voted to allow a local secular group of Gays to meet on Church property.]

      When responsible Christian leaders attempt to deal sympathetically as well as realistically with the homosexual problem they are to be applauded and encouraged, not condemned.  If they make mistakes they can correct them.  But any charges that they are aiding and abetting or even condoning immorality must be repudiated unless found to be true.  The crux of the matter is the needed reform of our medieval treatment of homosexuals in social attitudes, legal procedures, and penal customs.  It is high time the Church became more active in seeking ways of combatting such discriminatory practices as police surveillance, vocational prejudice, armed forces discharge; and the like.  A 1970 survey of opinion in the Episcopal Church among both clergymen and laymen and women shows widespread support of this position. - The Rt. Rev. William H. Marmion, Bishop.

The January 1976 issue was so fine that I would feel guilty if I passed it along without letting you know how much it's appreciated.  We (the collective) are opposed to organized religion and most of us (me especially) believe in people rather than in any higher being, or spirit, or whatever.  Sometimes, when things are going badly we find it hard to even believe in people.  Your publication often renews what little faith we have in the basic goodness of people and we feel that the spirit of goodness shines from INTEGRITY.

While I think our struggle is not the same as yours, ours and yours must run along parallel lines and one day each will encompass the other.  Peace and love to you and yours.

                              --Stacey M. Franchild

                              for the ALBATROSS collective

I read with real interest YOUR last copy of INTEGRITY!  The article by Coleman McGehee (I served at Christ Church, Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, for 10 years) was especially understanding and compassionate.  Two neglected qualities in the Christian Church at times.

Let me share this reaction after reading INTEGRITY from cover to cover.  I do believe YOU should share some of the strictly altruistic work YOU do with YOUR readers.  YOU give the impression NOTHING is more important than YOU [CAPS are Fr. Aulenbach's].  Solely what is being done to improve YOUR situation.  It is natural under the circumstances YOU should do so.  But without being labeled too pious it is spiritually healthy that YOU get beyond strictly YOURselves.  That can be considered selfish.

It's great to be alive.  JOY!  JOY!  JOY!

                              --The Rev. W. Hamilton Aulenbach

I am an Anglican priest abroad.

I read your advertisement in THE LIVING CHURCH and all of the different comments.  I am glad that you are existing.

                              --Fr. Andy

My interest in INTEGRITY is to keep abreast of movement and thought in the open homosexual circles.  This assists me to support those who are active or celibate homosexuals in the congregation I serve.

                        --Fr. Ronald

Though my own preference is heterosexual, I wish to express my support of your organization by subscribing to your magazine and by membership.

One of my hopes is that INTEGRITY will be a witness to my nonChristian Gay friends.

                              --Willa

If you have a few new subscriptions from Richmond, it may be because I have gladly passed on -- after thorough reading -- the few copies I have had of INTEGRITY ... to people who have long awaited so positive a sign of hope for the Christian Episcopalian homosexual.

Rich blessings on your ministry!

                        --The Rev. Edward Meeks Gregory

Please remove me from your mailing list.  I have read four issues carefully, and do not wish to continue to have literature of this type in my home.  The occasional insights and useful comments are negated by the four-letter words and offensive phrases.  [copy to Bp. Hall, who initiated her subscription as a delegate to General Convention]

                        --Captain M. Janet Maguire

                        4201 South 31st St., No. 926

                        Arlington, VA 22206

[This letter is in response to our report of the episode of our difficulty ln obtaining a meeting space at Columbia University, as reported in FORUM for January 1976, p. 2. -- Ed.]  I am indeed sorry that your initial experience with my staff should have been so unfortunate.  I am sure by now things have sorted themselves out.  I gather you had been in contact with the Rev. Starr.  This only became apparent to us after the calls from you.

I trust you fully understand that we are not in a position to be able to rent the university chapel by phone.  Only in exceptional circumstances is it available to groups not associated with the university.  A letter from you, for example, would probably have indicated that your service was part of a series of events going on on campus.

Please accept my apologies for the acrimonious nature of the conversation.

                        --J. Paul Martin, Director

                              The Earl Hall Center, Columbia Univ.

You of our sexual preference and orientation are doing a splendid work for Christ with INTEGRITY, and you surely have my support and commendation.

At present I am serving a four-year sentence for "interstate transportation of forged securities."

I am an Episcopalian and active in Gay liberation and hungry for more intimate personal relationships with other Gay Episcopalians.

                        --Don D. Dumas, #17909-148

                        P. 0. Box 1000

                        Stidacoom, WA 98388

May our Lord Jesus have mercy on your Souls.

I ask you not to be ignorant of Satan's devices to deceive you.  My heart goes out to you all and for the one who has led you astray.

Jesus is your only answer.  Turn unto him and God will rectify all things.  Praise be to God.

                        --Mrs. James N. Ryan

                        7609 Huron Drive

                        Gainesville, VA 22065

I don't condemn homosexuals because I'm a phallus worshipper myself.  I think the male penis is one of God's greatest works of art!

That's why I don't believe in circumcision.  The male penis is a 'love machine' and the foreskin is a part of the beautiful masculine love machinery!  Mothers should never allow their babies to be circumcised!'

I became a penis worshipper because of my ex-wife.  I married a lovely dark-haired Georgia girl and she used to get on top of me in the bedroom.  She made me feel like a woman and I used to look at her above me and think she was a man!  We used to wear each other's clothes around the house! ....

Homosexuality can be tolerated only if it is practiced properly. Here is the way it should be practiced:

1) Female homosexuals should get on top of a man in the bedroom. She can pretend she's a man and he can pretend he's a woman ....

2) Male homosexuals should get underneath a woman in the bedroom!  He can pretend he's a woman ....

That's the only way that homosexuality should be practiced and that's the only way it can be tolerated!

Homosexuals can also go to Denmark and have a surgical operation which turns men into women and women into men!!

                              --Capt. Bill Lenco, USAF Ret.

                              #26 Normain Hotel

                              160 North Main Street

                              Washington, PA 15301

[Captain Lenco's hetero graffito was directed specifically to the women in our organization.  Eds.]

With reference to the letter from Bishop Hobgood [Vol. 2, no. 2, December 1975, p. 6]

The armed forces may be a voluntary association able to set standards of fitness for membership.  My question is:  all other matters being equal, what effect does sexual orientation have on membership?  Orientation does not mean acting out!

I agree that the union called "marriage" is not an appropriate uniting for homosexuals.  But I suggest that we need to develop a theology for homosexual unions which could put such unions on a par with marriage.  The means to that end would likely be "process theology" which begins with God as unbounded Love.  (Cf. Norman Pittenger, LOVE LOOKS DEEP and/or LOVE IS THE CLUE.)

I'm delighted to read about the Kansas attack on INTEGRITY.  We must be doing something right.

                              --F. W. Crumb

I discovered my Gayness at 16, had years of self-torment, then self-acceptance, wild indulgences; left the Methodist Church; married and have been active in the Episcopal Church.  I am now 31, a father, and was just elected to the vestry.  I take my Christianity seriously but am confused about my status in the eyes of God and the Church.  If your FORUM can help clarify these issues, you will be a great asset and you can enlist me to help in your efforts in any way I can.

                              -Dan

John's first chapter tells me Christ came into this world unrecognized.  Christ came into his own realm unreceived.  His Gospel speaks to my Gayness, for not only do my family, friends and others refuse to admit my sexuality (my sexuality can't even be real!), but once they see, sometimes to their horror, sometimes with acceptance, that, yes, such as I do walk, talk and love, they can't concede that indeed, I have a place beside them in this world to breathe as deeply of life and make love as fervently as they.  Sometimes I feel like Caleb and little brother from HOW LONG HAS THE TRAIN BEEN GONE, sitting, watching those white folk live life on the screen (doubtless that's gotta be the way to live it, I mean, they are white and right aren't they?!)

I felt this reading and thoughts were a followup to Bob Ragland's correspondence with Bp. Cerveny (it hit me hard) [See FORUM, Nov. 75, 8-10].  God grab you and hold you tight, Bob Ragland!  I know the exasperation/hope you felt.  One member of my family told me he accepted, but does not condone my Gayness!

                  --Phil

I appreciate your letter of November 20th, and I have given it a great deal of thought before answering since I realize the things I say may have great importance for the life of the Church in the Diocese of the Rio Grande -- in fact, far more implications here than anywhere else.  I probably shall not be able to answer all of your questions at this particular time, but I shall endeavor to do my very best to explain my position vis-a-vis the homosexual priest and/or lay person in the Church.

First of all, I must admit to some confusion in my own mind as to whether homosexuality is an inherited or an acquired trait.  I realize that the American Psychiatric Association has declared that the homophile is not a sick person, and thereby would lend credence to the fact that a homophile is born that way, and just is that way.  However, I do know there are other medical opinions that differ in this respect.  Consequently, they are significant and should be taken into account.

Bearing the above in mind, I would want to be most cautious in accepting anyone for candidacy in the ministry who had escaped into homosexuality in order to avoid a real confrontation with life.  For some people, I am sure, there may be physical reasons for this.  For others, however, it is just like alcohol, drugs, or any other crutch that anyone might happen to use.  It is an escape from facing the real issues of life, i.e., men, women, identity, etc.  Just as I would not accept a candidate who I believed was using alcohol or drugs in order not to face his/her life, so a person whom I believed and my Commission on the Ministry believed, to be using homosexuality in the same way would be unacceptable to me.

Consequently it would appear to me that the matter of the acceptance of a homosexual candidate to the ministry should be based upon his/her personal characteristics, vocation, etc., after a thorough screening process medically, psychologically, psychiatrically, and by the Commission on the Ministry.

Having said all this, I unfortunately cannot live up to it.  This Diocese is in a very conservative part of the country.  While it is true that there are places where homophiles do live together freely and fairly happily, a greater part of the Diocese is made up of persons who would object violently to a candidate who was openly homosexual.  As yet we have been unable to establish any real kind of dialogue about this subject since people feel it is going far enough to even talk about women in the priesthood (I happen to be a great advocate of this particular issue and am spending a great deal of time, money, energy, and spiritual strength on it).

I do believe that homosexual persons, or gay persons, or homophiles -- and it's about as bad as trying to decide whether to use Mexican, Spanish or Chicano for our south-of-the-border brethren -- should have their civil rights protected.  If I could receive copies of the particular laws you have reference to I think I would be more than glad to write senators and congressmen from this state and also from Texas, since my Diocese does extend into it.

Certainly I would be open to trying to provide a meeting place for gay people.  There is already a place on the campus of the University of New Mexico, I believe.  While I could not guarantee this, since the Diocese does not really own any property it can use for these purposes, I would urge a local parish to recognize their responsibility for these people.

The question about the dismissal of a priest who was convicted of, or caught in, an act of sodomy, is one which would have to be decided on the merits of the case.  The same question might be asked about my dismissal of an alcoholic priest or one who is on drugs.  To answer that in any way would, it seems to me, preclude any fair judgment of the situation.

I would be perfectly willing to take some subscriptions to INTEGRITY in order that deputies to the General Convention might be informed a bit more fully on this issue.  Perhaps I would take one subscription for all the deputies, since if I subscribe to one particular paper for one point of view then I will be asked why I am not doing it for a host of others as well.

I will continue to assist in such small ways as I have in the past, and I hope you will know that I am interested and concerned that the rights of all God's people be protected no matter their color, life style, etc.

I hope these answers have been clear enough for you, and I hope they may be helpful.  I shall be most interested in hearing what you collect from other people in this area, as it would be helpful to know some of the thinking of churchmen.  Obviously I am not so interested in the names of clergy or bishops as I am in the numbers replying and the general tenor of what they have to say.

May I say in conclusion that even though Michigan's discussion in this whole area has come to naught in the defeat of the resolution offered to their convention, we in Rio Grande are not ready to even go so far as to study the issue to bring anything to our convention -- which means they are way ahead of us in discussion if not in action.

I hope that the new year is a good one for you and for your cause.  Wherever I see fit to be of assistance, I shall.

                        --The Rt. Rev. Richard Trelease, Jr.

                        Bishop of the Rio Grande

[The note below was written on the outside of a copy of our January issue which had been sent to Mr. Hudgens marked "checking copy," as a courtesy, since he was mentioned therein.  --Ed.]

Postmaster -- Return to sender.  This material considered pornographic and addressee wishes to have name removed from sender's mailing list.

                        --Elmore Hudgens, Director

                        Brotherhood of St. Andrew

                        Box 21, York, PA 17405

I really do not think it will do anybody any good to engage in polemics with people like Elmore Hudgens of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew or with the Australian fundamentalist John Howe.  I think we should rebuke them for their ignorance, and indeed for their Bibliolatry, which have no place in the Episcopal Church but I think lt is feckless to engage in argumentation with them, for their premises are like those of psychotics.  Furthermore, they very much enjoy the attention it attracts to them, and I think this is another reason for shaking the dust from our shoes. But beyond all this, it seems to me that we in INTEGRITY must spend the majority of our time and effort, our bundles of psychic and spiritual energy, in ministering to Gays within and without the Church, rather than arguing with Pharisees.  It is not fair to take children's bread and cast it to dogs, though (as the Syro-Phoenician woman said to Jesus) there can be no objections to the dogs eating the crumbs that fall from the master's table.

                              --The Rev. Grant M. Gallup

I am writing you in concern of a fellow inmate [and INTEGRITY member] prisoner John Gibbs, #86976-132.

On 13 January Gibbs was asked if he would take a cell Unit move to A-range in I-unit.  Gibbs informed the officials that there are prisoners on that tier whom he had had serious problems with earlier at Leavenworth prison.

About 1 p.m. Lt. Shields, officers Willcott, Toedter, Lasswell, Boyd, et al., came to the cell of Gibbs and Lt. Shields stated that Gibbs was going to be moved and that he did not care if there was trouble.

When Gibbs protested again, Lt. Shields gave the order to open the cell.  Immediately the five officers entered, and Lt. Shields said, "Let him have it."  After a few minutes of assault, Gibbs was forcibly carried away, and he was being choked with his limbs twisted at the time.

The eighth amendment prohibits any type of brutality by prison officials.  Corporal punishment has long been banned by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Prison officials have a duty to protect the safety and welfare of all the prisoners.  When they put Gibbs in the position where there is a chance of Gibbs's safety being in jeopardy, that is a violation of his rights.  Gibbs is the chairman and co-founder of the National Coalition for Prisoners' Rights.  His co-founder Ernest was killed in Leavenworth a few years ago by another inmate.

                        --Leroy Shorter, #91709

                        P.O. Box 1000

                        Marion, IL 62959

There are and have always been celibates in the Church.  We were frequently told that there is no room in the Church for unmarried priests.  The other ways were the monastic and celibate associates.  Some today say that there are "only a few celibates"; others say "there are no celibates."  Certainly it is true that there are unmarried priests and more unmarried laymen who have no "call" to the celibate life.  That is why I think that INTEGRITY has a just claim.  Everyone who is an Episcopalian ought to have civil rights within the Church without having to lie about it.  But it is the fact that so many say today that there are only "a few" or "no" celibates that makes this generation more cruel than the last one.

                              --Fr. George

[We had received the note from "George" before we read Fr. Jerry M. Doublisky's "Celibacy" in THE LIVING CHURCH for January 11, 1976. Fr. Doublisky makes two claims that puzzled us, the first that celibacy is a matter of choice] --

      Donald Goergen in his recent book The Sexual Celibate defines celibacy as "a positive choice of the single life for the sake of Christ in response to the call of God."  Fr. Goergen makes a distinction between being "single" and being "celibate."  The distinction lies in the relationship between "choice" and "response" to the will of God.  When I read his book, I rejoiced in the positive statement it makes and felt that Episcopalians are in need of understanding the issues it raises for us.

and yet a second claim, later in the article, that seems contradictory, by suggesting the Gay clergy do not, in fact, have a choice --

      Let's be honest -- the something "wrong" which vestries even some clergy refer to is the "stigma" of homosexuality.  It is impossible to discuss celibacy without touching on the subject of homosexuality.  Some minds cannot make the distinction since their own sexual uptightness precludes legitimate variations of the heterosexual.  Everyone knows, though it is seldom admitted publicly, that there are homosexual clergy.  And now that that fact is acknowledged, the question is, so what?  But some people feel that the celibate and the homosexual are one and the same, a generalization that can be neither proved nor disproved -- it simply does not matter!  If you accept one fact about homosexuality and celibacy, that both are states of being which preclude any demonstrable (overt) manifestation of sexual behavior, you are on the track to understanding the meaning of our Lord's position on celibacy.

We asked Fr. Doublisky to comment on this issue, as he has done below.  Ed.]

Although it was not my purpose to discuss the subject of homosexuality as such, your question seems to have focused on one point, which I admit, seems to be a bit vague.  Whether we like it or not, a double standard does exist.  I lament this fact.  But the point I was trying to make is that, for the person who has difficulty reconciling his faith and vocation with his sexual orientation, there is a third alternative that has great integrity.  If a person chooses the celibate life, there must of necessity exist a goal of sexual expression that transcends genitality.  None of us can "choose" our sexual orientation.  It is like having no choice concerning our race or nationality.  What choices we have are associated with the manner in which we express it.  The same choice within the celibate ideal applies to both heterosexual and homosexual.  If a priest calls himself a celibate, he cannot, with integrity, pursue or fulfill his sexual nature as the non-celibate.  I don't think there is a double standard here.

Nothing is more tragic than a homosexual with only two choices --celibacy or the "straight" life.  But if a homosexual finds that he cannot practice an active homosexual life without bringing scandal on others and himself, he has the choice of embracing celibacy.  But if he does embrace it, it must be willingly for the sake of other more important priorities, viz., the fulfilling of his vocation.

I am not insensitive to the difficulties and pressures of sexual identity.  But I have been given a third choice, which is a vision of life that transcends and transforms the demands of the flesh.  But since I am still bound by the flesh, I have fallen short of the mark; yet I press on because the alternative of celibacy has been more fulfilling to me.  It has enabled my ministry to be rich and rewarding -- something I know could not have happened had I not found my own solution.

                        -- The Rev. Jerry Doublisky, CSSS

The various points that have been raised regarding the bisexual's double standard in the degree of openness of his relationships with heterosexuals and with homosexual partners [see letters from Gene Harlot and Fr. Dunstan ln FORUM, vol. 1, no. 10 (Sept.-Oct. 75), 6-7] are good points.  What has not been noticed, it would seem, is that these problems adhere to what one may call the "closeted" bisexual.  Those who are out of the closet in reference to their own bisexuality, those who openly identify themselves as bisexuals, should have no reason to maintain this sort of double standard.  Certainly I never did.  And one cannot doubt that one of the prime goals of the bisexual movement is to get more bisexuals out of the closet.

I cannot speak for your experience.  In my own case I can only say that my affirmation of bisexuality was not generally considered by straights to be a claim to respectability and acceptance; if anything it was considered by some as a challenge to monogamy, by others as a potential seduction of "normal" (i.e., "straight") people into the dark recesses of homosexual experimentation, hence more dangerous than the going public of "gay" people, who, after all, were seen to present no "danger" to people with heterosexual interests.

Furthermore, it should be noted that precisely because of the social pressures you mentioned, bisexuals have the opportunity to do real work to make sure that their gay partners are treated by third parties on an equal basis with their straight ones; a type of consciousness-raising that is impossible for exclusively gay people.

In answer to Gene Harlot, I personally question the value of getting attached to "permanent relationships" with other people. The only "permanent relationship" I can see getting attached to is the one with God.  And it is to God that I think one must be "sexually or spiritually responsible" rather than wife/husband/ lover/etc....  Open anyone takes flack while some hidden anyones purr their lives out.

                              --Bob Martin

----------------------------

Ambler, PA.  As announced in our December issue (p.2), Fr. Ron Wesner is gathering materials for a special issue or section of FORUM around the subject of Gay clergy, focusing on the problems of those who are in the closet as well as those who are out, those in parishes and those who are not, and those persons now in training for the clergy or contemplating same.

Send all queries to him at the address for Philadelphia on our back page of this issue.

GAY CHRISTIANS IN ENGLAND

by Malcolm Macourt

  On 17th January there was formed the Gay Christian Movement, at a meeting at the Institute of Christian Studies, Margaret Street, London.

GCM released the following press statement:

  "At long last Gay Christians have managed to get themselves together in sufficient numbers to form a movement for the reform of the churches....

"We all assert, unequivocally, that to have or to seek a loving fulfilled relationship with another person of the same sex is fully consistent with response to the challenges of Christ."

But individuals and groups of people have been making that sort of statement for a long time, so what's new?  Two things:

Firstly, the new movement starts from a self-assertive position. In the past, the ethos of certain Christian groups concerned with homosexuality has been:  please God, and please Reverend, forgive me for being Gay.  More recently this has developed into:  I happen to be homosexual, but since I am trying to be good, please do not condemn me and please try to understand the problems we poor homosexuals have.  Now the Gay Christian Movement appears to have adopted the philosophy:  We are Homosexuals; if you, the Church leaders, are afraid of or ignorant about homosexuals, we will try to help you overcome your fear and ignorance.  Anyway, we are sure that on the issue of sexuality, as on so many other issues, the Churches are avoiding the real Christian issues --oppression, economic and social, and full response to God and humankind.

Secondly, the new movement has the support of existing groups and will subsume them in its structure.  What will emerge seems to be a network of local Gay Christian groups loosely affiliated to form a national movement.

The GCM press release continued:

"Each little cell, whether it covers a large area like Cornwall, or a small sector of London, will be responsible for providing fellowship for lonely and isolated Gay Christians, and for providing a meeting place, for prayer, study, common action and social fellowship, for Gay Christians of all denominations in the area covered.  The Gay Christian movement seems to have fully recognized, or over-recognized, the problems of those clergy and senior lay people who feel impelled to remain in the closet.  It is clearly recognized that, for many people, confidentiality is of the essence.  However, it is also stressed that each local group, insofar as it feels able, will have the responsibility of battering against prejudice in Church circles in that area.

"The central action will consist of major battles against ignorance and prejudice within the Church leadership.  The recent [homophobic] statement of the Archbishop of Wales was considered, and anger repressed, coupled with sadness that the Archbishop apparently could not bother himself to look further than the end of his nose.  The action will also consist of staging festivals and conferences (a happening is planned for mid-July, where the emphasis will be on joy -- joy at being Christian and joy at being Gay).  Also, a prayer card is planned, as are forms of service suitable for group meetings.  Perhaps the most notable feature of the prayer card draft is that it includes 'we pray for a sense of humor.'

"A committee of eight was formed, one woman and seven men, two of the clergy.  The secretary of this interim committee is Rodrick Bell, 18 Western Gardens, Jarvis Brook, Crowborough, East Sussex ENGLAND."

{Malcolm Macourt is an academic in Durham University.  He is the editor of the SCM pamphlet Towards a Theology of Gay Liberation (rev. in FORUM, Dec. 75, p. 2), and has been closely involved with the Student Christian Movement.  His address is 12 Mavin Street, Durham City, ENGLAND DH1 3AU.]

REJOICE! CHRIST IS NO RESPECTER OF GENITAL CONDITIONS!

MEDIA

SPECIAL FOCUS:  LESBIAN FEMINIST WRITING AND PUBLISHING, edited by Dr. Beth Hodges, MARGINS:  REVIEW OF LITTLE MAGAZINES AND SMALL PRESS BOOKS, no. 23 (August 1975). 72 pp. $1 from Tom Montag, 2912 N. Hackett, Milwaukee, WI 53211.

Reviewed by Kate Jones

Reading the August 1975 issue of MARGINS was the next best thing to having a couple of free hours to browse and chat in my favorite, well-stocked feminist bookstore.  My first reaction as I step over that threshold is always a gulp of excitement.  Treasures await.

Treasures indeed are glimpsed in this publication, which presents reviews and commentary on lesbian writers and their work, in both contemporary and historical perspective.  My own acquaintance with lesbian literature is not very great, but I met several old friends among the titles reviewed, including LESBIAN/WOMAN by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, a strong, positive book which I would still recommend for the woman facing new self-knowledge and its attendant fear.  Another article deals with the works of Jane Rule, a favorite novelist of mine because she writes of lesbian relationship in the context of life as a whole, where I think it belongs, and because she writes well.  Judith Niemi chronicles the reviews received by Rule's novels, in large part misunderstood and misinterpreted, and calls her work "a kind of underground classic."  Jane Rule is well worth knowing.

Other articles cover, with varying thoroughness, lesbian/feminist poetry, theater and journals, pulp novels of the past, and publishers.  A great variety of novels and journal articles are reviewed.  An "Annotated checklist of lesbian/feminist resources" provides an excellent guide to bibliographies, indices, publications, distributors, and archival collections available to researchers.  This list and several others give prices and addresses for ordering and announce forthcoming new and reprinted titles.  These are a great help for women whose local libraries are deficient in our field, as very few are not.

The editor of this fine issue of MARGINS acknowledges that limited space and personal preference have influenced the scope of this first focus on lesbian/feminist writing.  Naturally.  Nevertheless I was surprised and disturbed by the omission of any mention of Sally Gearhart, the author, with Bill Johnson, of LOVING WOMEN/LOVING MEN GAY LIBERATION AND THE CHURCH, published last year by Glide Publications.  For those of us who add the dimension "Christian" to our lesbian/feminist understanding of ourselves, the literary chorus is incomplete without voices which affirm the touch of the Eternal in our lives.  Where are our Christian/lesbian/feminist voices?  Hopefully they will sound forth in the followup lesbian issue of MARGINS now under preparation.

WE'RE NOT AFRAID ANYMORE.  16 mm. documentary film in color and sound from Parnassus Production, 6311 Yucca Street, Hollywood, CA 90028.  $30 rental; $300 purchase.  Stuart Arden, Producer.  Morris Knight, narrator.  27 minutes.

Reviewed by Louie Crew

This is an excellent film to get into nonGay audiences, as I discovered by accident, when some of my students asked whether they might sit in while I previewed it.  I found myself watching the watchers as much as the film, and they were clearly intrigued to be getting nonsensationalized, nonglamorized, just-plain-folks versions of a wide sampling of the Gay community.  The thrust of the narrative is to explain the origins of Gay pride as a healthy antidote to Gay oppression.  There are some pointed moments of joy, as in a lesbian wedding conducted by Troy Perry; some of celebration, as in cuttings from a Gay Pride Parade.  The demand implied is for a full-service Gay community.  The real impact is that all the voices are Gay; the film has authority.  It would also make good viewing for chapter meetings and discussion.

THE HOMOSEXUAL MATRIX (McGraw-Hill, 314 pp., $10) by C. A. Tripp

BINDING WITH BRIARS:  SEX AND SIN IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (Prentice-Hall. 251 pp., $8.95) by Richard Ginder.

Reviewed by The Rev. Grant M. Gallup

Both Tripp's and Ginder's books are fun to read, almost breezy and both are destined to become standard big guns in the ordnance of the Gay liberation movement.  Both books are distillation of many years of the work and thought of their authors; Tripp's, that of the social scientist (sex researcher-cum-psychotherapist) and Ginder's that of the hide-bound Roman Catholic moral theologian.  Neither "comes out" in the pages of his book, though Fr. Ginder has done so since, publicly.

Dr. Tripp's book has a confusing title, using the word matrix in the sense of an "entire range" of background, according to the jacket blurb.  But the book jacket itself is aluminum foil, with the title reprinted in mirror image upon it, indicating another meaning of matrix, the printers usage.  The word itself, an archaism meaning "womb" or "cradle," is derived from the Latin mater.  The book is a synthesis of what has been learned ln many areas (religion, biology, anthropology, psychiatry, politics) over the last 20 years.  The synthesis he develops is sometimes brilliant, not always tidy, but always well-written, well-researched (not well-referenced), and entertaining.

Tripp says that "in spite of the liberalizing of sex laws in a number of countries and states, lt is precisely in such regions that attitudes are as rigorous as before ... that in England, and in Chicago, for example there is more surveillance of those involved in homosexuality than before."  I had just written my disagreement in the margin, based on what Dr. Pittenger had told all of us at convention last August, that in England "the question of homosexuality is a dead issue, nobody gives a damn," when I read in the newspaper of the arrest and conviction of the Bishop of Cardiff (and his subsequent resignation) for having met a man in a "loo" and gone elsewhere with him for privacy.  And in Chicago, a bar was raided, and a series of murders of Gay people took place within a week.  So harassment, disgrace, and even murder are still with us, whether or not attitudes are as rigorous as before.  Tripp is right to lay the blame for society's sexual regulations at the door of the Church and Temple (as Ginder does at length), but in all fairness, he should have placed some credit there too, for in England, the Wolfenden report grew out of the work of the Church of England's moral welfare Council, leading first to the enactment of the model penal code in Illinois and to changes in British law.  And in spite of the benighted fundamentalism and hypocritical liberalism of American religion in general, it has been the patient working of some few religious and moral leaders which has led to more and more change in public attitudes, at least, of pewspeople.

His chapter on effeminacy is especially interesting for his definitions of nelly, swish, blase, and camp, as distinct styles of behavior which accomplish different tasks in adaptation.  The chapter on the politics of homosexuality is gossipy, sometimes naming names.  But the most controversial idea in the book is Tripp's argument that "sexual attraction thrives when and only when the partners are in some sense alienated from each other." It's perhaps overstated, and Herbert Hendin, the mortally wounded Freudian analyst, fairly faunched and fumed about it in the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW.  I suppose that all Tripp is really saying is that opposites attract, even in the homosexual matrix.

Fr. Ginder's book is for a narrower audience -- or at least he intended it so, writing from within the strictures (the "briars") of the obsolescent Roman Catholic system of moral theology.  But the book is anecdotal, elliptical in style and thought, and written with an eye to quotability.  He says in the preface that his whole life has been a preparation for this book.  While it is not entirely concerned with homosexuality, the subject pervades all the book, not just the one chapter devoted to it.  And Fr. Ginder makes the point that it is the gay lib movement which is the cutting edge of the whole movement for sexual liberation.  He would simply remove sexuality (except for rape, abortion, and maybe prostitution) from the briar-patch of moral theology altogether.  (He says, however, that he is a loyal believer in papal authority, and if told to retract, will retract everything.)

The title of the book comes from William Blake's "Garden of Love":

  So I turn'd to the Garden of Love

  That so many sweet flowers bore;

  And I saw it was filled with graves

  And tomb-stones where flowers should be;

  And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,

  And binding with briars my joys and desires.

In his book Fr. Ginder has taken an electric hedge-shears to the briar bush.

GAY CHRISTIAN HEALING

It's sometimes difficult to sense the presence of Our Lord in the white walls and antiseptic furnishings of a modern hospital; it may have been easier when the first Hospital of the Good Samaritan was built in Portland with dark corridors, the emblem of the Crucifix above each bed and nineteenth century nurses bobbing around in uniforms which for all intents and purposes were nuns' habits.  But Jesus Christ must be present where the life of His Creation is so magnified through the suffering of tragedy, the joy of birth, the miracle of healing.  Perhaps that's why so many Gay Christians are found in hospital vocations, knowing first hand both the feeling of personal tragedy and the reality of intimate needs.  The closet doors are as present as the Spirit of God in a hospital, however, and it is more than a still, small voice that is heard there saying, "the unclean cannot minister here to the sick."

When I first walked onto the ward at which I'm stationed in "Good Sam," I was aware that my Lord was with me.  He, after all, had lead me to a hospital vocation and to this institution administered as a mission of mercy by His Holy Church.  But what mercy was to be shown to me, a worker?  Are only the patients needy and are the staff members present only to serve?  Can I not share my joys and my needs to my patients?  Is truth not a major portion of health?  Those questions weren't really emphasized until I began to be a person on the ward instead of a uniform, but, somehow I knew it was imminent that I would be tried by a group of people "dedicated to the ministry of healing."  And it happened.

Living near the hospital campus, many evenings were spent by my visiting patients without families.  Sometimes I read to them.  Sometimes I watched television and occupied their space with them (I know what it is to be lonely).  Mostly I listened.I found people with fears not unlike my own.  I was determined to be real, and I responded with sharing some of my      fears and how, through God's grace, they could often be turned to joy.  I was no more nor less than me.  It felt good.

Other nights, I would invite staff members to my home.  In the tradition of our profession, we'd drink ... and talk "shop."  As the fruit of the vine would loosen my tongue, heaven knows how many times I related stories of my father, the country doctor who still has his home phone number printed on his prescription blanks, and who had told me repeatedly (but not ever redundantly) that all healing is of God.

I was not at all surprised, late one night, when I received a call summoning me to the room of a patient who had been out on a pass, had consumed some mushrooms and was, generally, not having a good time.  His problem was "sort of" medical, but he really didn't need a doctor, a nurse, or even an aide; he needed a friend.  Who the hell doesn't? So there I was.  I couldn't make it go away.  I couldn't make it better.  I could just be there.  It seemed to be enough.

The head nurse (and we all know about head nurses; you have read Kesey, haven't you?) was less than appreciative of my being on the ward at an "inappropriate" hour.  I wasn't on duty.  I wasn't in uniform.  My soul hadn't been scrubbed for surgery.  I was being human ... not professional.  She had a point.  I couldn't argue with the fact that I wasn't being professional, but by the same token, I wasn't being paid for it either.  It seemed to me that my own time was just that.

That was the beginning.  I heard later that she felt that patients should not be exposed to "perverts."  Since I didn't know any, I could easily agree.  It dawned on me that she meant me.  She was threatened by the fact that I was attempting (and once in a while, succeeding) in following the message behind the sermonettes she bought in poster form from Abbey Press and hung on the walls of the unit.  It upset her that I could be responsible, loving, Christian, dedicated AND Gay.  If she allowed me to continue, she could no longer say that faggots are irresponsible, selfish, sinful, transient AND immoral.  AND ... she calls the shots.

I've had to fall back and re-group my God-given talents and energies.  I am no longer found on the nursing floor very often. I am working in an office from 8:30 to 5:00, coordinating medical records, typing letters, answering phones, filing forms and being professional.  At night, I'm studying for a degree in nursing.  I don't have the power in this medical mission of God's Holy Church.  I'm a worker.

While my God tells me that we are all one in His Spirit, some of my Sisters/Brothers in His Love say, "we are except for you." They want to protect the patients from the danger of my care for them.  So, I continue to pray.  And work.

There will soon come a time when my talents and training will be recognized in spite of my living arrangements with the man I love.  The anger I felt towards those who restrict and censor me professionally is strangely turning to hope in the promise of Our Saviour when He said that His being lifted up would draw all (one) unto Him.  I ask you, then, my Gay Christian Sisters and Brothers to pray that our sacrifice in this time of oppression by the Official Church and Churchwomen/men be acceptable in His sight, for the glory of Him and the good of ALL His Church ... us ... One in the Spirit.

                              -- John-Mark Gilhousen

(Footnote: I am an employee of Good Samaritan Hospital, an Episcopal Hospital of the Diocese of Oregon.  I am convening an INTEGRITY chapter in Portland and I desire your prayers.)

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"Homosexual search for recognition and ordination and church reaction ranked 5th in the top 10 religious stories of 1975, according to Religion Newswriters Association."  (from LA chapter)

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INTEGRITY INTERCESSIONS FOR FEBRUARY

Your prayers are urged this month for the following:

Our enemies, especially those who wrongly understand themselves and thereby confuse our motives towards them, and also for those who harm their Gay children, Gay friends, and Gay students unawares; for Fr. Cecil Cowan,

Our friends, especially those who, like Fr. Washington, have the courage to speak out openly and clearly on our behalf, and also for the countless persons who respond to us as whole persons and sustain us in joyful sharing, like Tom and Mary, Pat and Art, Barbara and Edward, Jean and Tom, Esther and Allen....

Our deceased, Larry K. and Frank O., R.I.P,

Our ill, Fr. Bill's daughter Libby; Louie's mother Lula; Tom,

Our lonely and perplexed, for Karen, for Fr. Ralph,

In joy, for Ernest and Louie on their second anniversary, for all our convenors and all our officers, for the leaders of caucuses in all religious groups, that they may have strength and courage to do God's will; for Robert in his decloseting; for Gary in his isolation, for the Sisters at St. Mary's in Milwaukee, for Bill who recently tried to commit suicide, for Fr. Sidney Gervais in Texas, for Bp. Frey who expects Gay clergy to take an oath of celibacy, and for ALL the peoples of the earth, LORD HAVE MERCY.

PRESIDENT'S PAGE

SERIOUS BUSINESS........

Know any Gay Episcopalians?  Of course you do, and I'll bet you know some who aren't in INTEGRITY yet.  For many reasons that are probably obvious to you by now, we need more members (for one thing, this enormous postage bill we pay monthly could be cut in half, the savings used to increase FORUM, if we had 1,000 members to qualify us for 2nd class postage); so let's make the next months our National Membership Drive -- if you each get only one new member, we'll be well over 1,000 in no time! 

One thing became pretty clear to me in Atlanta:  a lot more is involved than civil rights for gays!  That very open and accepting group stumbled terribly over the single issue of equal employment for Gays.  Why?  To support our demand for civil rights, our Church would find itself in a very embarrassing position regarding it's own hiring policies (ordination of openly Gay men and of women).  Thorny, eh?  While we continue to insist that these two issues (Gays and women's ordination) be kept separate, there are going to be times when they just can't be.  Again I urge you brothers to take it upon yourselves to become better sisters -- read what our sisters are writing, talk to them, sensitize yourselves to their struggle, go to their meetings when you can (not all women's groups refuse males admission).

Plans for our own Convention and for our participation at General Convention are developing, and as they do, the "Cash Required" column is becoming scary!  Any ideas? FOR ONE THING, YOU COULD BUY YOUR COPY OF IN CELEBRATION --AND SELL A COPY OR TWO TO YOUR FRIENDS!  For another, maybe you could send your parish pledge to FORUM one week out of each month -- charity begins at home, God helps them what helps themselves, etc. -- and what a demonstration tactic (TeeHee)!  Speaking of General Convention, The Rev. Ron Wesner, Co-Convenor of Philadelphia, is Chairperson of the Committee for General Convention.  He welcomes all your input (and especially green input) -- his address is on the last page of this issue.

Convenors -- send your Census sheets in if you haven't by now; they're important.  I also need the names of those who want to be involved in committee work -- this is vital!

We're starting already to make travel arrangements for San Francisco.  Anyone living near the Chicago area should contact Convenor Dave Williams about joining the charter flight they will be arranging.  Other areas will be announced as they begin plans  -- you might check on the possibilities in your own area.

As many of you know, I am moving to Washington DC at the end of February.  My mail is kind of messed up, but I get it eventually, so keep that in mind before you lay me out for tardy replies!  I really need to hear from all of you regularly, especially you who are not in local chapters -- your ideas, suggestions, needs are very important and, until we get policies set up at Convention, are all we have to guide us in our decision making.  Besides, it's just plain great hearing from you!

CHAPTER NEWS

INTEGRITY/Boston continues to provide programs and Eucharistic celebrations for members.  This month, though, they decided to have one evening just for "fun" so, after mass, members enjoyed a pot-luck supper and a social time.  "Gays and Marriage" was the topic of a recent discussion/meeting, and coming topics include "Aging Gays" (which they think may become the basis for a seminar) and "Ethics."  They plan a Mardi Gras celebration with DIGNITY and MCC later this month.

INTEGRITY/Chicago is also planning a great Mardi Gras Ball with DIGNITY, MCC and others complete with costumes.  Program guests and discussion leaders this month include a local therapist and a lesbian representative of NOW (National Organization of Women) who raised some consciousnesses.  Chicago celebrated its first anniversary on the 28th of January, the oldest of our active chapters -- we all express our heartiest Congratulations! and wish them well for a lot of years of continued growth.

INTEGRITY/LA went on retreat to Mt. Calvary monastery in Santa Barbara January 16-18.  They have arranged to have a booth at their 81st Diocesan Convention and members will be on hand to discuss the organizations purposes and to distribute literature. The Chapter is having the same problem with gossip about disruptions and confrontations that National and other Chapters have experienced.  Where do such rumors start from??

INTEGRITY/New York has taken up residence at the Church of the Ascension, one of the City's oldest and most involved in worship, activism and education for social justice.  Fr. Bob Herrick met with the Chapter this month to discuss NGTF, and another meeting hosted representatives of the NYC Gay Teachers Association.  Continuing their film programs, this month they viewed SEVEN WOMEN, one of John Ford's works.

INTEGRITY/Portland is making great progress.  Bishop Bigliardi gave the Chapter his official consent to celebrate masses for INTEGRITY and expressed his desire to keep informed of their progress and his willingness to act as a resource person.  Their first newsletter (called INTERCHANGE) is impressive and lists a full schedule of worship services and discussion topics.  Its column of intercession prayers is moving.  Convenor John-Mark spoke to the Young Adult Ministries in a panel on "Homosexuals and the Church."

INTEGRITY/San Antonio has been invited to participate in the production of an exhibit and conference for the official bi-centennial celebration in San Antonio.  A local group was funded to put on a gay/non-gay conference in San Anton' this April and has invited the Chapter to participate in that.  This is one of our newest Chapters and is certainly off to a great start!

INTEGRITY/San Francisco, despite the load of work involved in planning for our Convention, has a full schedule of activities.  Their newsletter is a real gem -- one of their intercessions, one we should all use daily, asks our prayers for "those who from oppression or self-hatred continue to hide."  SF is the first chapter with enough women to warrant forming a women's caucus; the sisters are meeting monthly together.  Chapter By-laws have been written and are being considered by the membership.

LOCAL CHAPTERS

INTEGRITY/Atlanta.  Co-Convenors Dr. Ara Dostourian. (3830 Highway 5, Douglasville, GA 30134; 404-942-9813) and Steve Matthews (404-351-1943).

INTEGRITY/Austin.  Convenor Adam F. Stricker (Box 14056, Austin, TX 78761).

INTEGRITY/Australia.  Convenor The Rev. Ron Dowling, St. George's Church, 4/296 Glenferrie Road, Malvern, Victoria, 3144, Australia.

INTEGRITY/Boston.  Convenor Joe McCauley, Box 2582, Boston, MA 02208.

INTEGRITY/Chicago.  Convenor David Williams, Box 2516, Chicago, IL 60690.

*INTEGRITY/Denver.  Convenor The Rev. Thomas Dobbs, 1734 Washington Street, Denver, CO 80203.

INTEGRITY/Eugene.  Convenor Randolph Harrison West, Box 3682 University Station, Eugene, OR 97403.

INTEGRITY/Fort Valley.  Convenors Ernest Clay and Louie Crew, 701 Orange Street, No. 6, Fort Valley, GA 31030, 912-825-7287.

*INTEGRITY/Hartford.  Convenor The Very Rev. Clinton R. Jones, 45 Church Street, Hartford, CT 06103.

INTEGRITY/Jacksonville.  Convenor Dr. Robert Ragland, 2783 Oak Street, Jacksonville, FL 32205.

INTEGRITY/Lansing.  Convenor Gary Lee Phillips, Box 95, East Lansing, MI 48823.

*INTEGRITY/Lexington.  Convenor Philip Mitchum, 435 East Maxwell St., #1, Lexington, KY 40508.

INTEGRITY/Los Angeles.  Convenor Dick Sheppard, 4767 Hillsdale Drive, LA, CA 90032.

*INTEGRITY/Michigan.  Convenor James Toy, Human Sexuality Advocates, 325 Michigan Union, U-Mi, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.  Also: Michael L. Gowing, 2696 Indian Trail, RR 3, Pinckney, MI 48169.

INTEGRITY/NYC.  Convenors The Rev. Michael G. Koonsman (31 Stuyvesant St., NYC 10003) and David Allen White (23-71 27th Street, Astoria, NY 11105).

INTEGRITY/Philadelphia.  Convenors The Rev. John Lenhardt (4711 Baltimore Ave., Phila. 19143, tele. 726-1089) and The Rev. Ronald Wesner (RFD 1, Brushtown Road, Ambler, PA 19002).

INTEGRITY/Phoenix.  Convenor Bob Eff, P.0. Box 27212, Phoenix, AZ 85017.

*INTEGRITY/Portland.  P.0. Box 1334, Portland, OR 97207.  Convenor John-Mark Gilhousen, 2015 N.W. Kearney, #101G, Portland, OR 97209, tele. 503-223-4682.

INTEGRITY/Providence.  Convenor Edgar F. Staff, Box 71, Annex Station, Providence, RI 02901.

*INTEGRITY/Rochester.  Convenor The Rev. Walt Szymanski, 14 Highmanor Drive, Apt. 8, Henrietta, NY.

INTEGRITY/San Diego.  Convenor The Rev. H. C. Lazenby, ACSW, 4645 West Talmadge Drive, San Diego, CA 94117.

INTEGRITY/San Francisco and Bay Area.  Co-Convenors Jim Frooks (1256 Page Street, No. 1, SF, CA 94117 415-621-0182) and The Rev. Richard Younge (P.O. Box 6444, San Jose, CA 95150).

INTEGRITY/Toronto.  Convenor John Gartshore, 20 Berryman Street, Toronto, M5R 1M6, Ontario, CANADA.

INTEGRITY/Twin Cities.  Convenor Frank R. Eggers, 26 Arthur Avenue, Box 203, Minneapolis, MN 55414.

Additional convenors have contacted us about the possibilities of new chapters in the places below.  All queries should be sent to our officer in charge of chapter advisement, President Jim Wickliff, 429 Surf, Chicago 60657

INTEGRITY/England; INTEGRITY/Houston; INTEGRITY/Madison, WI; INTEGRITY/Miami; INTEGRITY/Montana; INTEGRITY/Oklahoma City; INTEGRITY/Seattle, WA; INTEGRITY/Toledo; INTEGRITY/Topeka; INTEGRITY/Washington, DC.

*Indicates either a new address or a new listing with this issue.

This ministry is very important.  We need you.  Please write today.  Isn't it time for you to convene a chapter?